Conventional book production lines join or marry respectively one book block and one book case in a clocked operation. In the process, the book blocks and the associated book cases are normally first produced in separate machines. With the conventional book production lines, for example, as disclosed in German patent document DE 19729529 A1, the book block first travels separately from the associated book case to the processing stations for rounding, backing, spine glue application, headbanding and the like. The book case generally passes through a case bending device before the so-called marriage takes place in a downstream-arranged casing-in machine, i.e. before the book case and the book block are joined.
Conventional book production lines of this type operate based on the premise of a production of medium to large book editions. For a series of two or more book blocks, an equal number of book cases are therefore provided, where it is not necessary to observe a specific sequence because one book is composed in the same way as another book within a single edition.
When producing small editions of personalized books, for example, books of photographs, the book block as well as the book case are unique items. A small edition, therefore, requires an unambiguous identification of the book case and the book block, where reference to this is made in German patent document DE 102008034065 A1.
To obtain non-problematic processing of small editions in a conventional book production, where this refers to a throughput range of 3600 hardcover books per hour, for example, either the book case or the book block must take on a control function. A section of the book to be produced therefore predetermines for the book production line which other section of the later book must be joined to it. Swiss patent document CH 00759/10 deals with the problems of a targeted and flexible incorporation of a section of a book which is produced in a small edition into a book production line, as well as the secure allocation of the sections to be married. The aforementioned document proposes creating task stacks comprising book cases of a known composition for which the case information is made available to the book production line in the form of a single marking for the task stack.
When operating conventional book production lines, as generally understood in the art, it has turned out that in some cases individual book cases and/or book blocks must be removed. However, this cannot be realized when using book production lines configured based on conventional designs. Those cases include, for example, if the book cases and the book blocks must travel different distances along the book production line. For example, if twelve book blocks are located inside processing stations during the operation, while only three book cases have already been deposited. It is possible that the matching book blocks for the book cases located in the book production line are not available. Other irregularities are also conceivable, for example, that a section of a book is damaged in a processing station or that different quality problems are detected. It may be desirable to transfer out a section of the book before a marriage to the book cover takes place.
In the event that book blocks are missing in the ascending and/or descending sequence for the book blocks in the processing chain, an empty cycle is assigned to this missing book block and the associated case is transferred out at the respective location.